Saw till – design phase

Having identified a possible common resting point for the saws, I set out to see how much room I would need to hang up a till that held all the saws I wanted. I identified that I wanted it to hold seven saws, but I bumped it up to eight to have an even number.

I took a piece of scrap ash and sawed into it with each respective saw. I took my hand and placed it around the handle and came up with about a foot (I think, will have to double-check) for four saws. Doubled, that’s two feet plus an inch or so for the sides. Two feet, even two and a half, is doable on my wall. It’ll find a home someplace. If I can incorporate a drawer or shelf below for the flush, plus perhaps…something (reciprocating and jigsaw blades? Is that sacrilegious? Coping blades surely aren’t, right?), the space lost will be well worth it. That’s a hard thing to say in a shop as space-deficient as mine is, but it needs to happen. For one, I’m out of room on my magnetic rack. Two, last time I tried to pull a saw off it one of my brand new chisels went flying. Not good. So it is to be done, and that’s that.

I was thinking about making a wood hanger on one side for the Japanese saw, and will have to figure that out. I want to make this out of as much ‘real’ wood as possible, so I’ll find a way. Perhaps a through M&T joint. Could certainly use to learn that one. This would be a nice small project to do it on. I don’t know yet if I’ll have a fancy sweeping design on the sides, similar to some done to imitate the saw shape. Perhaps, although it would be just a visual enhancement.

Since there’s much less design involved in this, I may start on this one before the hand tool cabinet. What might be interesting as well, is that I certainly have room to mount this on a shelf (should I so make one) on my workbench. It would be removable, and not otherwise interfering with any clamping aspects. Since I won’t be able to store my trash can there (presumably), that’s something to take into account. A rectangular box, as a drawer is, would be the way to go here if I anticipate it.